Card slot connector

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a card slot connector to be mounted onto a printed circuit board for making a required electric connection between a card and the printed circuit. It comprises a housing of a synthetic resin material and a metal shell applied to one side of the housing. The insulating housing has means to fix itself to the printed circuit board on the other side. When the card slot connector is mounted onto the printed circuit board, the metal shell lies apart above the printed circuit board, thereby permitting the mounting of electronics devices and parts in the area of printed circuit board occupied by the card slot connector.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a card slot connector for making a required electric connection between a secure digital memory card (abbreviated as SD card) and the printed circuit of a circuit board, on which the connector is mounted. Such card slot connectors are used in small-sized electronics devices such as digital cameras, cellular phones, MP3 (MPG Audio layer-3) or PDA (Personal Digital Assistance).

[0003] 2. Related Art

[0004] Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a conventional card slot connector 11 is fixed to a printed circuit board 10, permitting an SD memory card 7 (see FIG. 5) to be inserted in or removed from its slot 11 a for connection to or disconnection from the printed circuit.

[0005] It comprises: a housing 13 of a synthetic resin material having a plurality of contact pieces 12 embedded therein, and a flat, shielding metal shell 14 applied to one side of the housing 13, and a push-push switch 6 attached to one longitudinal side of the housing 13, extending in the direction in which a card is inserted and removed. The contact pieces 12 are soldered to selected conductors in the printed circuit.

[0006] As seen from FIG. 7(B), the card slot connector 11 is fixed to the printed circuit board 10 with its metal shell 14 applied to the printed circuit board 10. The grounding contact piece 15 of the metal shell 14 may be kept in contact with the grounding terminal 7 b of an SD memory card 7 (see FIG. 5(A)) when the card 7 is inserted in the card slot connector 11, so that the grounding terminal 7 b may be connected to the grounding terminal of the printed circuit board 10 via the grounding contact piece 15 of the metal shell 14.

[0007] Disadvantageously this arrangement prevents electronics devices and parts from being mounted in the area of printed circuit board occupied by the card slot connector 11 with the metal shell 14 on the printed circuit board 10, which metal shell 14 would short-circuit electronics devices and parts if they are put between the metal plate 14 and the circuit board 10. As the parts-loading density per unit area of a printed circuit board increases, a demand is increased for making full use of the surface area of printed circuit board including that occupied by the card slot connector.

[0008] One object of the present invention is to provide a card slot connector to meet such a demand, permitting electronics parts or devices to be mounted on the area occupied by the card slot connector.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] To attain this object according to the present invention, a card slot connector to be mounted onto a printed circuit board for making a required electric connection between a memory card and the printed circuit comprises: a housing of a synthetic resin material and a metal shell applied to one side of the housing, the housing having means to fix itself to the printed circuit board on the other side, whereby the card slot connector may be mounted onto the printed circuit board with the metal shell apart above the printed circuit board.

[0010] The card slot connector can be fastened to the printed circuit board with the metal shell apart above the printed circuit board, thus leaving the underlying area of printed circuit board for mounting electronics parts and devices.

[0011] The shell may have a selected part cut and pushed down to provide a grounding contact, which is adapted to be put in contact with the grounding terminal of a memory card when it is inserted in the card space of the connector.

[0012] This arrangement assures that the card be grounded when inserted in the card slot connector.

[0013] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be understood from the following description of a card slot connector according to one embodiment of the present invention, which is shown in accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0014] FIGS. 1(A), 1(B) and 1(C) are plane, front and side views of a card slot connector according to the present invention;

[0015] FIGS. 2(A) and 2(B) are side and bottom views of the card slot connector, the bottom view illustrating the non-shielded side of the connector;

[0016]FIG. 3 is a plane view of the metal shell;

[0017]FIG. 4(A) is an enlarged view of a fragment of the metal shell whereas FIG. 4(B) is a sectional view of the fragment taken along the line “4(B)”-“4(B)” in FIG. 4(A);

[0018] FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B) illustrate the front and rear sides of an SD memory card;

[0019]FIG. 6 illustrates how a card can be inserted in the card slot connector;

[0020] FIGS. 7(A), 7(B), 7(C) and 7(D) are plane, front, side and rear views of a conventional card slot connector; and

[0021]FIG. 8(A) is another plane view of the conventional card slot connector illustrating the shielded side of the connector, and FIG. 8(B) is another side view of the connector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0022] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a card slot connector according to the present invention comprises a housing 2 of a synthetic resin material and a metal shell 3 applied to one side of the housing 2. The housing 2 has a plurality of contact pieces 4 embedded therein. The housing 2 and the metal shell 3 define a card space 5 for accommodating a memory card such as an SD memory card. A push-and-push switch mechanism 6 is fastened to one longitudinal sidewall, partly projecting in the card space 5.

[0023] More specifically the housing 2 comprises left and right longitudinal sidewalls, a rear wall and a bottom plate 2 a. The bottom plate 2 a has two bosses 2 b projecting therefrom for placing the connector on a printed circuit board in position. The rear wall has the contact pieces 4 fitted in its through holes. The rear ends 4 a of the contact pieces 4 are bent and soldered to selected conductors on the printed circuit board 10, and the front ends 4 b of the contact pieces 4 are adapted to be resiliently kept in contact with the contact pads 7 a of the SD memory card 7 (see FIG. 5) when inserted in the connector 1, thus making a required electric connection between the SD memory card 7 and the printed circuit 10.

[0024] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the metal shell 3 is laid on the bottom plate 2 a of the housing 2, so hat the metal shell 3 may be apart above the printed circuit board 10; the connector 1 is laid on the printed circuit board 10 with its non-shielded side 2 a thereon (see FIG. 1(B)).

[0025] The card space 5 is defined by the opposite longitudinal side and rear walls, and the bottom plate 2 a of the insulating housing 2 and the overlying metal shell 3, leaving its front side open to insertion and removal of a memory card 7 from the card space 5.

[0026] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the metal shell has a selected part cut and pushed down to provide a grounding contact. The grounding contact comprises a descendent section 3 b bent at right angles relative to the ceiling 3 a of the shell 3, and an upward-oblique contact section 3 c integrally connected to the vertical descendent section, somewhat rising toward the ceiling 3 a.

[0027] Thus, the grounding contact allows its oblique contact section 3 c to rub the grounding terminal 7 b of the SD memory card 7 when it is inserted in the card space 5 of the connector.

[0028] As may be understood from the above, when the card slot connector is fixed to a printed circuit board 10 by soldering its contact pieces 4 to selected conductors in the printed circuit board 10, the metal shell 3 is above the printed circuit board 10.

[0029] The insulating bottom 2 a of the housing 2 faces the printed circuit board 10, so that electronics parts and/or devices may be put on the area confronting the insulating bottom 2 a. Accordingly the effective space available to mounting electronics parts and/or devices is enlarged on the printed circuit board 10.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 6, when an SD memory card 7 is inserted from the card slot 5 a into the card space 5 of the card slot connector 1, allowing the contact end 3 d of the oblique contact section 3 c to rub the grounding terminal 7 b of the memory card 7.

[0031] Thus, the grounding terminal 7 b is connected to the grounding circuit of the printed circuit board 10 via the metal shell 3. This arrangement saves the number of parts to attain the grounding and shielding of the SD memory card 7. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A card slot connector to be mounted onto a printed circuit board for making a required electric connection between a memory card and the printed circuit comprising: a housing of a synthetic resin material and a metal shell applied to one side of the housing, the housing having means to fix itself to the printed circuit board on the other side, whereby the card slot connector may be mounted onto the printed circuit board with the metal shell apart above the printed circuit board.
 2. A card slot connector according to claim 1, wherein the shell has a selected part cut and pushed down to provide a grounding contact, which is adapted to be put in contact with the grounding terminal of a memory card when it is inserted in the card space of the connector. 